AEDS_OM_PWS_Draft.pdf

Operation and Maintenance of the

Application and Eligibility Determination

System (AEDS)

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

Department of Education

Federal Student Aid

August 05, 2014

“Note: As-Is Requirements mentioned in PWS will be provided in

Phase 2)”

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION 5

2 BACKGROUND 5

3 SCOPE 6

4 APPLICABLE DIRECTIVES 7

5 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS 8

5.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT 8

5.1.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN (PMP) 8

5.1.2 LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY (LMM) 9

5.2 ANNUAL DEVELOPMENT 9

5.2.1 SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT 9

5.2.2 FAFSA FORMS DEVELOPMENT 11

5.2.3 USABILITY TESTING 13

5.2.4 USER ACCEPTANCE TESTING 13

5.2.5 TRAINING 13

5.3 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE 13

5.3.1 PRODUCTION AND IT MAINTENANCE SUPPORT 13

5.3.2 MANAGEMENT OF VOLUME PEAKS 15

5.3.3 PARTICIPATION MANAGEMENT (PM) SUPPORT 15

5.3.4 IMAGE DATA CAPTURE (IDC) 15

5.3.5 EMAIL PROCESSING 16

5.3.6 PRINTING AND MAILING 17

5.3.7 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS SUPPORT 17

5.3.8 OPERATION OF THE CPS/SAIG TECHNICAL HELP DESK 19

5.3.9 CONFERENCE SUPPORT 21

5.3.10 ANCILLARY SERVICES 21

5.3.11 COOPERATION WITH MULTIPLE AGENCIES/CONTRACTORS 24

5.3.12 TECHNOLOGY EVERGREENING 24

5.3.13 DOCUMENTATION 24

5.3.14 STATUS REPORTING 25

5.4 SPECIAL PROJECTS/INITIATIVES SUPPORT 25

5.4.1 SUPPORTING PROJECT TO IMPROVE ACCURACY OF STUDENT DATA 25

5.5 TRANSITION PLANNING 27

5.5.1 PHASE-IN PERIOD 27

5.5.2 PHASE-OUT PERIOD 27

5.5.3 PHASE-OUT PLAN 28

5.6 IT CONTINGENCY PLANNING & CONTINUOUS SECURITY AUTHORIZATION SUPPORT 28

5.6.1 CONTINGENCY PLANNING 28

5.6.2 DISASTER RECOVERY TESTING SUPPORT AND PARTICIPATION 29

5.6.3 CONTINUOUS SECURITY AUTHORIZATION 29

5.7 CHANGE MANAGEMENT 30

6 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 31

6.1 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE 31

6.2 TYPE OF CONTRACT 31

6.3 PLACE OF PEFORMANCE 31

6.4 CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE (COR) 32

6.5 QUALITY CONTROL 32

6.6 QUALITY ASSURANCE 33

6.7 SECURITY REQUIREMENTS 33

6.7.1 PHYSICAL SECURITY 33

6.7.2 IDENTIFICATION OF CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES 33

6.8 DATA RIGHTS 33

6.9 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST 34

6.10 CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL 34

6.10.1 PERSONNEL PLAN 35

6.10.2 CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEE REPORT 35

6.10.3 CERTIFICATIONS 35

6.10.4 CONTRACTOR TRAVEL 35

6.10.5 OTHER DIRECT COSTS 36

6.11 POST AWARD CONFERENCE/PERIODIC PROGRESS MEETINGS 36

6.12 INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE 36

6.12.1 SCOPE OF INSPECTION 36

6.12.2 BASIS OF ACCEPTANCE 36

6.12.3 WRITTEN ACCEPTANCE/REJECTION BY THE GOVERNMENT 37

6.12.4 NON-CONFORMING PRODUCTS OR SERVICES 37

7 KEY PERSONNEL 38

7.1 PROGRAM MANAGER 38

7.2 PROJECT MANAGER 38

7.3 OPERATIONS LEAD 39

7.4 SYSTEMS ARCHITECT/ENGINEERING LEAD 39

7.5 QUALITY CONTROL MANAGER 39

8 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY/EQUIPMENT/INFORMATION 40

9 CONTRACTOR FURNISHED PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT 40

10 ATTACHMENT / TECHNICAL EXHIBIT LISTING 41

10.1 ATTACHMENT 1: AEDS AS-IS REQUIREMENTS 41

10.2 ATTACHMENT 2: DELIVERABLES 41

10.2.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT DELIVERABLES 41

10.2.2 STATUS REPORTS 41

10.2.3 SYSTEM AND USER DOCUMENTATION 43

10.3 ATTACHMENT 3: AEDS SLAS/KPIS 49

10.4 ATTACHMENT 4: DISINCENTIVES 52

10.5 ATTACHMENT 5: ESTIMATED WORKLOAD DATA ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.

10.6 ATTACHMENT 6: CPS/SAIG CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS 54

10.7 ATTACHMENT 7: ACRONYMS & DEFINITIONS 55

10.7.1 ACRONYMS 55

10.7.2 DEFINITIONS 58

1 Introduction

This Performance Work Statement (PWS) describes the functions, processes, and performance requirements for the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of the Application and Eligibility

Determination System (AEDS). The Application and Eligibility Determination System (AEDS) supports FSA’s core business objective of accepting and processing the Free Application for

Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) from current and potential post-secondary school students.

The purpose of this PWS is to ensure continuing, comprehensive, and effective maintenance and operation of the AEDS and to support the annual development, system rollover, and requested enhancements for all components comprising the AEDS. The contract resulting from this solicitation will establish a performance-based business arrangement in support of maintaining an efficient, effective, and responsive IT platform to host and support the AEDS’ operations.

2 Background

AEDS consists of the systems, processes, and operations that support the FSA Aid Delivery

Lifecycle functions including:

Authorization supports access management to FSA systems through the Student Aid

Internet Gateway (SAIG) for schools, states, third-party servicers, and Guarantee

Agencies. Authorization of these entities is performed by the Participation

Management (PM) system.

Application Submission enables submission of a student application for federal student aid via multiple supported channels, including FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) for web applicants, FAA Access to CPS Online for school Financial Aid

Administrators (FAAs), Image Data Capture (IDC) for paper applicants, and school third-party software applications interfacing to AEDS through Electronic Data

Exchange (EDE).

Eligibility Determination processes applications received via the various inbound channels. This is accomplished by the Central Processing System (CPS), which ensures that all applications are evaluated for eligibility based on predefined criteria and eligibility rules.

Results Distribution supports transmission of results of application processing to applicants, schools, and other authorized users utilizing various channels including

Printing and Mailing reports and Email processing notifications to applicants, as well as sending out processing reports to schools electronically through the EDE interface.

Systems Administration and Management provides administrative support of AEDS systems, websites, and databases and enables configuration management of the AEDS operating environment in response to emerging problems or requested modifications.

Business Intelligence provides a suite of tools for statistical analysis and business intelligence for management and operational reporting to FSA and other stakeholders on various aspects of the Federal Student Aid program.

Technical Help Desk fulfills FSA’s need to provide technical support to users of the

Central Processing System (CPS), the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG), and other

AEDS systems regarding Federal Student Aid application data, system data and functionality, and any technical issues.

Conference Support fulfills FSA’s conference participation needs such as presentations development and conference staffing.

School Tools and Ancillary Services constitutes School Tools currently provided and supported by FSA (including EDExpress, DL Tools, and FSADownload) and

Ancillary Services for the storage and management of Master Promissory Notes

(MPNs), an integral part of the loan origination and disbursement process.

The following three services are closely related to the scope of operations of AEDS but will be operated and maintained under other contracts outside of this AEDS O&M contract:

Authentication of applicants and parents of dependent applicants for electronic application submission and/or signature.

Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) supports FSA’s requirement for a government-to-citizen customer contact center providing information to the general public regarding the FSA application process.

Editorial Services provides written and electronic responses to inquiries received from applicants and/or the general public about the Federal Student Aid program and application process.

Attachment 1: AEDS As-Is Requirements describes the high-level business requirements of the As-Is AEDS solution, and its constituent functions listed above, which shall be operated and maintained under this contract.

3 Scope

The Contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform the

AEDS Operations and Maintenance support as defined in this Performance Work Statement, except as specified in Section 8 (Government Furnished Property/Equipment/Information). The

Contractor shall provide engineers, technicians, software developers, and specialists on-site and on-call to administer AEDS IT products and shall perform to the standards set in this PWS. The

Contractor shall integrate any technology changes and upgrades as approved by the Contracting

Officer to meet user requirements and to maintain operational currency of the AEDS IT products and systems.

The Contractor shall attend program meetings such as status meetings, Project Control Boards, program reviews, Configuration Control Boards (CCB), and other sustainment activities. The

Contractor shall be prepared to answer questions pertaining to the O&M of the AEDS solution as well as present the results of completed research to the Contracting Officer Representative

(COR).

The Contractor shall provide services consistent with the existing AEDS solution (as described in Attachment 1: AEDS As-Is Requirements) as well as the performance and general requirements stated in this PWS. The performance requirements are identified in seven (7) main areas shown in the table below. Detailed descriptions of those areas are available in Section 5:

Performance Requirements.

The solution shall provide the following services:

The services shall ensure all operations, maintenance, system security, disaster recovery, annual development, and program management for the AEDS. The services shall also include all transition tasks including the start-up and exit transition of services. The Contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the requirements described in this PWS, except as otherwise specified.

4 Applicable Directives

The Contractor shall comply with the following laws, regulations, directives, processes and procedures in the performance of the requirements of this PWS.

Directive

Number

Title Date /

Version No.

1 FSA Lifecycle Management Methodology (LMM) https://studentaid.ed.gov/about/contracting-info/it-standards

6/15/2012 /

Version 1.20

2 Enterprise Operational Change Management (EOCM) Plan 10/6/2010 /

Version 1.3

3 Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002 2002 (Title III of E-

Government Act of 2002)

4 Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act

5 Federal Student Aid Acquisition Regulation (FSAAR)-852.273-75:

Security Requirements for Unclassified Information Technology

(IT) Resources

Interim-October 2008

Performance Area PWS Section

Project Management 5.1

Annual Development 5.2

Operation and Maintenance 5.3

Special Projects 5.4

Transition Planning 5.5

IT Contingency Planning and Continuous Security Authorization

Support 5.6

Configuration Management 5.7

5 Performance Requirements

5.1 Project Management

The Contractor shall provide comprehensive project management under this contract. The

Contractor shall be responsible to develop a Project Management Plan (Section 5.1.1 below). Key personnel for this effort is the Program Manager. The Contractor shall identify a Program Manager, who shall provide management, direction, administration, quality assurance, and leadership of the execution of this contract.

The Contractor shall schedule and coordinate a Project Kick-Off Meeting within five (5) business days of contract award, at the location approved by the Government, most likely in the Washington, D.C. area. The meeting shall provide an introduction between the

Contractor personnel and Government personnel who will be involved with the Contract.

The meeting shall also provide the opportunity to discuss all aspects of this PWS.

The Contractor shall participate in monthly/quarterly status meetings to ensure success of the project and shall prepare monthly/quarterly status and progress reports until such time that the CO/COR/Authorized Designee elects to modify this schedule in writing.

The Contractor shall provide meeting minutes for the monthly/quarterly status meetings to the COR/CO. The Contractor shall keep in communication with the CO/COR accordingly so that issues that arise are transparent to both parties and outstanding issues are not escalated.

The Contractor shall ensure audits and assessments do not have substantive findings

(material weaknesses or significant deficiencies). The Contractor shall provide FSA with a written response to all non-substantive findings within one (1) month and resolution within two (2) months from the date of notification. The Contractor shall provide FSA with a written response to all substantive findings within two (2) weeks and resolution within four

(4) weeks from the date of notification. The Contractor shall generate, collect, distribute, store, retrieve, and dispose of required project information.

Scheduling and planning is essential to the success of this requirement. The Contractor shall create and maintain schedules for FSA to be included in the Contractor’s Integrated

Master Schedule.

In addition, the Contractor shall:

1. Provide FSA with an updated list of phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses for key personnel that regularly interact with FSA;

2. Ensure all documents are tracked using dated version control.

5.1.1 Project Management Plan (PMP)

The Project Management Plan (PMP) will be developed and delivered within 21 business days after contract award. The PMP must set forth in reasonable detail the procedures that the Contractor will take to accomplish the objectives of the work. The PMP shall document planning assumptions and decisions; facilitate communication among stakeholders; and document approved scope; cost; work breakdown structure and resource loaded schedule, as well as schedule baselines. The PMP shall document how the

Contractor plans to provide oversight and monitoring of the contracted work and defines its organization. The PMP shall be compliant with the latest Project Management Body of

Knowledge (PMBOK®). The PMP shall be kept current throughout the life of the project and shall be used in part to track progress. A PMP shall be delivered annually and updated quarterly or as requested by the government when major change requests have been approved.

5.1.2 Lifecycle Management Methodology (LMM)

The Contractor shall comply with Federal Student Aid's project delivery and governance methodology, the Lifecycle Management Methodology (LMM), which defines the control level activities and minimum set of documentation requirements to successfully oversee the development and implementation of a solution. The Contractor shall deliver specific project information resources deliverables in a format prescribed by the FSA LMM templates when possible. Project deliverables and work products over and above the

LMM, may be delivered in accordance with the Contractor’s proposed methodologies, unless otherwise identified in the contract.

If the Contractor proposes use of their own methodology, the Contractor shall provide an

LMM Compliance Matrix that details how their Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC), activities and deliverables/work products trace to the Lifecycle Management Methodology

Stages, Core Deliverables and Stage Gate Entry/Exit Criteria.

The purpose of this Operations and Maintenance contract is to ensure reliable operation of the solution, perform scheduled and ad-hoc maintenance, and implement necessary enhancements. Solution changes or enhancements, depending on their magnitude, may require new deliverables rather than updates to existing artifacts. The Enterprise

Operational Change Management (EOCM) group performs an impact analysis prior to any production environment changes. All major changes to the solution will go through all defined LMM Technical Stage Gates. The Contractor shall support all LMM Stage Gates including the development of briefing materials, submission of action items, action item resolution, mitigation strategies, and test results. The Contractor shall be required to submit to the Government a request for permission to proceed and will not proceed to the next Stage unless the Government grants Authorization to Operate/Proceed (ATO/ATP).

5.2 Annual Development

5.2.1 System and Software Development

The annual release of AEDS application software shall be implemented no later than

January 1 st of each year or as directed by FSA. The activities and effort that are associated with annual development cycle generally fall into two categories. The first category is the effort required to make changes to the system and services to enable the processing of an additional award cycle, commonly referred to as “system rollover.” The second category is the effort involved in making changes to the system and services that are “routine changes” addressing deficiencies and enhancements to ensure the delivery of quality services as a part of the annual development process.

In addition, the level of effort for requested enhancements shall be provided and assessed as a part of the process for requirement prioritization and establishment of the requirements baseline for the annual development cycle. This process shall be the same for development efforts that fall outside the scope of the annual development cycle effort.

The Contractor shall provide a flexible system and software development capability that is responsive to legislative and regulatory updates on the following schedule: January (annual application startup), July (application shutdown), and September (correction shutdown) as well as any emergent releases as needed. The Contractor shall provide examples of previous experience and rationale for how they will provide flexibility, agility, and responsive systems and software development while adhering to the FSA LMM and reducing time to release and risk.

The Contractor shall complete the annual requirements analysis, system design, code development, system testing, implementation and documentation support, and monitoring and maintenance of systems currently under the AEDS. These systems include the

Application Submission systems (FAFSA on the Web, FAA Access to CPS Online), the

Eligibility Determination system (CPS), the Participation Management system, and the

School Tools (EDExpress PC and Web versions, DL Tools, FSA Download, FSA

Listserv).

Annual rollover of the baselined AEDS operations is defined as the tasks to initiate a new code base and database with the existing cycle’s functionality in order to enable the processing of an additional award cycle. In addition to bringing all of the current cycle’s functions forward, rollover shall include the following annual system and documentation updates to:

Account for the new cycle year

Adjust date references

Update state deadline references

Modify system parameters

Update Pell Tables

Update tax form references

Update EFC offset tables

Revise verification selection criteria

Delete edits that no longer apply or are no longer effective

Support forms clearance process for both FAFSA and PM/SAIG Enrollment forms

At the beginning of each development cycle, prior to beginning requirements meetings and prior to creating the AEDS Master Schedule, the Contractor and FSA shall agree upon a high-level milestone schedule that includes information about deliverables and acceptance testing. The high-level milestone dates shall serve as the starting point for the detailed schedule. The high-level schedule allows FSA to see the range of dates needed to plan for documentation reviews, acceptance testing, production readiness reviews (PRRs), and post implementation reviews (PIRs). The high level schedule shall be provided to FSA weekly.

The Contractor personnel shall conduct requirements meetings with FSA personnel to determine and document system changes to the affected products and services. All items for consideration shall be documented on a Requirements Tracking Summary (RTS) for each AEDS system or subsystem. Once requirements are finalized, a Customer

Requirements Document (CRD) and Functional Specifications for each product area shall be created, reviewed, and accepted by FSA. The Contractor shall create Detail Design

Documents and deliver them to FSA for review. The tasks and review timeframes associated with each Detail Design Document (DDD) shall be documented on the AEDS

Master Schedule. The Contractor shall follow proven software development processes that are compliant with industry standard best practices and FSA’s Lifecycle Management

Methodology, outlined in Section 5.1.2 above.

The Contractor shall annually develop, support, and monitor the following AEDS IT products:

FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) at FAFSA.gov (including FAFSA4caster)

FAA Access to CPS Online

Eligibility Determination System (CPS Mainframe)

School Tools o EDExpress o DL Tools

Partner/FSA Tools o FSAWebEnroll.ed.gov o FAFSA Demo

Management Information System (MIS)/Business Intelligence (BI) Reporting

Tools

The Contractor shall produce products and deliverables that are compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act; this compliance shall apply only to products and deliverables that fall within the purview of the Act, other products or deliverables used by the Contractor in the performance of this contract, that are not covered by the Act, need not be Section 508 compliant.

For the annual release of new cycle AEDS IT products, the following key performance indicator shall apply:

Area Performance Standards

New Cycle Availability The annual release for AEDS shall be implemented no later than January 1 of each year or as directed by FSA.

5.2.2 FAFSA Forms Development

The following forms shall be updated annually:

English and Spanish paper FAFSA

English and Spanish FAFSA PDF – 508-compliant fillable form

English and Spanish FAFSA on the Web Worksheet (FOTW Worksheet) – 508-compliant form

English and Spanish Student Aid Eligibility Worksheet

FSA shall provide the content, language, and direction on the ordering of each data element and instructions on the FAFSA and FOTW Worksheet. The schedule must be fluid as these documents are driven by the review and approval through OMB.

The Contractor shall provide a rollover draft of the English and Spanish paper FAFSA, FAFSA on the Web Worksheet, and Student Aid Eligibility Worksheet with updated colors and year increments to FSA in February. The workflow for each form is described below.

Paper FAFSA

1. The Contractor shall reformat/redesign the paper FAFSA, add/delete questions, change the design as directed, produce drafts of the English and Spanish FAFSA, and deliver the created PDF file to FSA; FSA shall review and request revisions as needed.

2. The Contractor shall produce up to six (6) additional drafts, as needed. After the

Contractor receives updated IRS line number changes, a new draft of the FAFSA and Worksheet shall be created to accommodate changes to IRS line numbers.

3. When requested (usually September), the Contractor shall deliver print-ready files on disk, hard copy, and GPO documents necessary to conduct a test printing for

English paper FAFSA/IDC test. The Spanish version shall not be delivered for the print test.

4. After OMB approval, the Contractor shall deliver final print-ready files on disk, hard copy, and GPO documents for the English and Spanish final paper FAFSA.

FAFSA PDF

1. The English version of the FAFSA that is posted for the 60-day review phase shall be used as the basis to begin the creation of the English and Spanish 508-compliant versions of the fillable FAFSA PDFs. The Contractor shall test the

English and Spanish PDF FAFSA internally.

2. The English FAFSA PDF shall be tested by FSA during Federal Student Aid

FAFSA on the Web UAT testing. The Spanish FAFSA PDF shall also be posted to FAFSA on the Web.

FAFSA on the Web Worksheet

1. The Contractor shall reformat/redesign the FOTW Worksheet to incorporate changes made to the paper FAFSA, change the design as directed, produce draft of the worksheet, and deliver the PDF created to FSA; FSA shall review and request revisions as needed.

2. The Contractor shall produce up to three (3) additional drafts as needed. After the

Contractor receives updated IRS line number changes, a new draft of FAFSA and

Worksheet shall be created to accommodate changes to IRS line numbers.

3. When requested (usually September), the Contractor shall deliver print-ready files on disk, hard copy, and Government Printing Office (GPO) documents necessary to conduct a test printing for English FAFSA on the Web Worksheet/IDC test.

4. After OMB approval, the Contractor shall deliver final print-ready files on disk, hard copy, and GPO documents for final FOTW Worksheet. The English FAFSA on the Web Worksheet PDF shall be tested by FSA during Federal Student Aid

FAFSA on the Web UAT testing. The Spanish Worksheet shall also be posted to

FAFSA on the Web.

Student Aid Eligibility Worksheet

1. The Contractor shall reformat/redesign the Student Aid Eligibility Worksheet, add/delete text, and change the design as directed, produce draft of the worksheet, and deliver the PDF file created to FSA; FSA shall review and request revisions as needed.

2. The Contractor shall produce up to three (3) additional drafts as needed.

3. After the Contractor receives FSA approval on the Worksheet, the PDF file shall be delivered to the IDC.

5.2.3 Usability Testing

The Contractor shall support up to two (2) usability tests per contract year with an average of 12 participants per session. If travel is necessary to support the usability test sessions, travel costs shall be invoiced on a T&M basis.

5.2.4 User Acceptance Testing

The Contractor shall conduct User Acceptance Testing (UAT) in collaboration with FSA.

The Contractor shall provide a testing lab in a Washington, DC office location for acceptance testing of AEDS IT products. The computers and network support for the DC

Office Testing Lab shall be provided by the Contractor.

5.2.5 Training

The Contractor shall support FSA by providing training sessions to FSA staff to help FSA staff better understand the development and testing process. Typical training sessions may include presentations on testing processes and phases, a Software Lifecycle Overview for new staff, training on how to use the Functional Specifications for acceptance testing, and training on how to use the OLAP system.

5.3 Operations and Maintenance

5.3.1 Production and IT Maintenance Support

Once a product is moved into production, it shall be considered in maintenance mode.

Maintenance refers to the activities taken to keep a deployed solution operational, per the approved requirements.

The Contractor shall perform all AEDS production activities for the length of the 18-month processing cycle (beginning January 1 of each year) and shall maintain the operations of the entire AEDS operations system components, from Application Submission, through

Eligibility Determination, and finally to Results Distribution. Specifically, the Contractor shall provide the following products and services:

IT operations and maintenance support including:

o Supporting daily production control and compute processing o Release of code fixes for tracked problem logs o Testing support for infrastructure upgrades o Testing support for patching o Production troubleshooting support and testing o Supporting Technology Office Tiger Team initiatives as they relate to AEDS products o System password changes and testing

When matching agencies and the AEDS environment are functioning properly, the following compute processing and system maintenance key performance indicators shall apply:

Area Performance Standards

Compute Processing w/

External Matching

Not to exceed 72 hours from receipt of record at Eligibility

Determination component to transmission of processed record output, measured monthly

Compute Processing w/o External Matches

Real time, measured monthly

Availability Production systems hosted by the Contractor shall be available 99.5% of the time, calculated over a quarter

Timely Trouble Ticket

Management - Critical

95% of Critical issues (issues causing processing to stop) shall be assessed and proposed resolution date provided within next business day

Timely Trouble Ticket

Management - High

95% of High severity issues (issues impacting the processing of one or more users) shall be assessed and proposed resolution date provided within three business days

Timely Trouble Ticket

Management - Medium

95% of Medium severity issues (issues impacting slight degradation in service) shall be assessed and proposed resolution date within 5 business days

Timely Issue

Resolution

For Critical and High categorized Trouble Tickets, the

Contractor shall have resolution production ready by the targeted resolution date 95% of the time

Cycle Closeout: Closeout activities shall begin prior to the end of the production cycle and continue through the following July when the final End of Year Report is delivered. The Contractor shall complete the closeout activities annually by

July 15. Closeout activities include:

o Early End of Year (May through December) o End of Year (November through July) o Archived ISIRs (November through March)

Provide continued support and maintenance for all products listed in Section 5.2.1 above and for the following products that are not annually rolled over:

o Return to Title IV Funds (R2T4) o FSAdownload

5.3.2 Management of Volume Peaks

The Contractor shall manage application and correction peaks to confirm that the same level of quality service and processing time occurs during peak operational needs as they occur throughout the processing year. Based on historical data and volume trend predictions, the Contractor shall project application and correction volumes for both Web and paper applications. The volume projections shall then be used by FSA to determine hardware capacity requirements for both peak and non-peak periods and to determine staffing requirements for data entry operators and for customer service specialists.

Projections and analysis shall be shared with FSA and its support contractors as needed.

5.3.3 Participation Management (PM) Support

1. PM Forms Processing

The Contractor shall process the PM/SAIG Enrollment forms granting user access to Federal Student Aid systems. The two primary forms that shall be processed include full paper enrollment forms and signature pages from enrollment requests submitted online. The pertinent information from these forms shall be keyed into the PM system and the information processed. All forms shall be imaged and stored in an electronic image repository, and hard copy forms shall be stored in a secure warehouse for retrieval as needed.

2. PM Forms Support

The Contractor shall support Federal Student Aid in the annual submission of the

PM/SAIG Enrollment form through the OMB review and clearance process.

5.3.4 Image Data Capture (IDC)

The Contractor shall continue to provide IDC services in the form of mailroom duties, scanning, data capture/validation, and (hard copy) records management, and exception processing. The IDC system integrates with the Eligibility Determination system to provide data and receive confirmation of processing. The paper forms processed by IDC include:

FAFSA

SAR Correction

Signature Page

History Corrections on Non-standard Document

The IDC team shall continue to handle return mail from undeliverable addresses. All processed paper documents shall be stored locally until the end of that cycle’s processing period. Once the processing for a cycle completes, the IDC team shall assist with the shipment of these documents to the Federal Records Center. In addition to the processing of these paper documents, the IDC team shall also handle return mail and paper document requests.

Turnaround time shall be measured from receipt of document to transmission of completed data file/image to CPS. Documents shall be processed within the standard turnaround timeframe. The Contractor shall oversee the IDC system to assure that it is available and running efficiently in order to meet turnaround requirements.

Turnaround time measures for paper shall be as follows:

Document Type Turnaround Time Standard

FAFSA Average of 7 business days or less, measured monthly

SAR Average of 4 business days or less, measured monthly

Signature Page Average of 3 business days or less, measured monthly

Correspondence Average of 4 business days or less, measured monthly

Performance of data entry accuracy shall be measured in the following areas:

Area Performance Standard

Field Level Accuracy per

100,000 fields

99% for critical fields and 96% for non-critical fields, measured quarterly

5.3.5 Email Processing

The Contractor shall be responsible for system-generated e-mails to the customer, as applicable. E-mail documents include web record receipt notifications, student and parent

SAR processing notifications, renewal and saved application reminders, and IRS income follow-up notifications.

E-mail turnaround times shall be as follows:

Document Type Turnaround Time

Standard

SARs 1-3 business days

5.3.6 Printing and Mailing

1. Eligibility Determination Printing

The Contractor shall print, assemble, and mail all system-generated and hard copy documents to the customer, as applicable. Printed documents include SARs, SAR

Acknowledgments, and subsequent application letters. SARs shall be mailed within

4 business days of receiving the print request from CPS.

Document Type Turnaround Time

Standard

SARs 4 business days

2. AEDS Postage

The Contractor shall provide postage services for AEDS operations’ mailings. The

Contractor shall provide Not-to-Exceed amounts for the postage effort based on estimated annual volumes. Postage costs shall be funded up to the Not-to-Exceed amounts for each contract year in the annual contract price. Additional postage effort shall require additional funding to the Contract. For Year 1 of the Contract, the expected mailings volumes shall be:

Document Type Base Year

Volume

AEDS Mailings XXX

5.3.7 Statistical Analysis Support

The contractor shall create a statistically-reliable representative sample of applicant data to enable many routine and ad hoc analyses. Data from the sample databases shall be merged with data from the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system for a combined view of applicant and recipient data. Using the aforementioned sample database, the

Contractor shall support the following analyses:

Annual Requirements Analysis –Support the annual development of new requirements for each new cycle year by performing statistical analyses to support the following three key objectives:

o Evaluate the effectiveness of editing logic within CPS (i.e., warnings, assumptions, and reject edits); and o Derive the most effective verification selection criteria for applicants selected for “verification” using the defined sample databases, recipient disbursement data from the COD system, and a regression analysis tool as needed. FSA has an annual target of selecting 30% of applicants for verification, which is in essence an audit completed by the schools.

o Perform Statistical Analysis in support of other key FSA initiatives each year, such as FSA’s Improper Payments Initiative. This may involve working cooperatively with IRS staff to conduct an annual study estimating

Pell Grant erroneous payments.

IRS Statistical Study –Perform the following activities within this FSA initiative:

o Perform statistical analyses each year to evaluate the accuracy of applicant reporting and determine potential Pell misallocated awards;

o Create a sample file of FAFSA applicant data which is sent to the IRS for matching against the IRS database for accuracy; and o Compare FAFSA data to IRS data to determine discrepancies and their possible effects on financial awards to include the following:

Average amount of over- and under-reporting of FAFSA income data compared to IRS data and the potential misallocation of Federal Pell

Grant dollars that could be prevented by an IRS match;

Volume of applicants for whom a mismatch between FAFSA and IRS data may be legitimate;

The type of applicants who are more likely to misreport income on the

FAFSA;

The Validity of the current CPS verification selection edits; and

The effectiveness of the IRS data retrieval process available to FAFSA on the Web applicants.

Fraud Detection Analysis –Detect potential fraud ring participants by analyzing the following:

o Predict the student dropout rate for students selected for random verification.

o Identify suspicious patterns of key variables (e-mail, address, school code, and PIN) that may indicate potential fraud rings. These patterns shall be loaded to a file and used during application processing.

End of Year Reporting –Support End-of-Year activities by providing summary information on Title IV applicants as well as Federal Pell and TEACH Grant activity for the most recent award period. The End of Year (EOY) project is comprised of the following deliverables:

o Master Merge File – a merged file containing Title IV applicant and Federal

Grant recipient data.

o EOY Sample File – a file containing applicant and recipient data for individuals, that is used for modeling and analysis purposes for the Office of

Postsecondary Education (OPE), and for budgetary projections provided to

FSA’s Office of the CFO (OCFO).

o EOY Publication Tables – a series of tables that are published in the End-of-

Year Report, providing summary data on Pell Grant recipients. Generate 35 end-of-cycle “publication” data tables for Congressional reporting.

o EOY Research Tables – a series of additional tables providing information used by ED for research and analysis purposes. Generate approximately 53

“research” data tables for FSA research.

5.3.8 Operation of the CPS/SAIG Technical Help Desk

The Contractor shall be responsible for staffing, operating, and managing the CPS/SAIG

Help Desk, which serves Title IV participating organizations by providing information about the AEDS (CPS), SAIG, and associated software applications by phone and e-mail.

The CPS/SAIG Help Desk shall also support inquiries from the hearing-impaired. Help

Desk technical service representatives (TSRs) shall provide Tier-1 and Tier-2 support in both English and Spanish.

The Contractor shall provide Help Desk services to support customers, such as universities, colleges, state agencies, lenders, and Federal Student Aid application partners, who are seeking information about the processing of the FAFSA (paper and Web versions) or the transmission of Title IV data through the SAIG system. In addition, TSRs shall provide assistance and information to the users of CPS-developed software products, including

EDExpress, FAA Access to CPS Online, ISIR Analysis (IA) Tool, Return of Title IV

Funds (R2T4), and Direct Loan (DL) Tools. CPS/SAIG TSRs shall also provide technical assistance to SAIG users.

Specific types of CPS/SAIG TSR assistance covered under this PWS shall include but not be limited to:

Providing processing information concerning FAFSA data

Resolving application and correction errors

Supporting the use of the EDExpress software product

Assisting in SAIG enrollment for the electronic transmission of batch services using FSAWebEnroll.ed.gov

Supporting the use of the FAA Access to CPS Online tool

Assisting with the Application Test System for third party software vendors

Managing inquiries and responses submitted through the FSATech listserv system

Supporting the SAIG system and its associated set of tools

Supporting EDconnect users

Customer interaction channels of communication include:

TSR assisted calls on 1-800-330-5947

E-mails sent to CPSSAIG@ed.gov and FSATech@listserv.ed.gov

CPS/SAIG Help Desk hours of operation shall include:

Day Hours

Monday - Friday 8 am – 8 pm ET

Saturday/Sunday No service

Federal Holidays CPS/SAIG Help Desk is closed on federal holidays

CPS/SAIG Technical Help Desk monthly KPIs and service levels shall include:

Area Service Level

Customer Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction Survey: 85% of participants rate service 4 or higher on 5-point scale

Live Answer Percentage 95% of calls offered to agents answered live

Prompt Answer

Percentage

80% of calls answered in 20 seconds

Accuracy 98% accuracy (contacts not requiring follow-up contact)

FSATech Speed of

Response

Provide initial response to 100% of FSATech List Serve postings within one business day.

To assess and monitor customer satisfaction, the Contractor shall conduct the CPS/SAIG survey (Attachment 5: CPS/SAIG Customer Satisfaction Surveys). Thirty users shall be selected randomly each month and polled with the survey questions. The measurement period shall be quarterly, each 3 months, aligning with the AEDS contracting year, beginning with February and ending with January.

In the event that the Customer Satisfaction KPI falls below target for two consecutive measurement periods, the Contractor shall initiate a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to formally manage actions to restore performance. This plan shall include analysis of the performance gap, a plan of action with timetable for implementation, and a clearly identified owner. The CAP will be initiated within five (5) business days of the close of the measurement period and submitted to the COR within 10 business days of the close of mailto:CPSSAIG@ed.gov mailto:FSATech@listserv.ed.gov the measurement period. The Contractor's independent AEDS Quality Manager shall confirm that the plan is fully implemented and shall track the CAP's progress weekly with

AEDS management.

FSA has the right to contract with a third party to conduct a customer satisfaction survey, or use a blend of the Contractor-delivered C-SAT tools, those of the Department and those of a third party. In the instance of consecutive periods of non-compliance, the CAP will be escalated with weekly Contractor Senior Management oversight and tracking of re-alignment to the target range.

Each calendar year, unless otherwise directed by FSA, the Contractor shall re-baseline the customer satisfaction survey and shall provide FSA a comparative analysis of the historical percentage, or norm, of low-rating scores of 1 and 2 to these low-rating scores in the new delivery model. Established C-SAT targets are based on current FSA environment.

Changes to Federal Student Aid business processes, programs (new or changed), policies, and regulations, and changes to economic and demographic factors, will be assessed for their impact on C-SAT and targets may be re-baselined in a collaborative effort between the Contractor and FSA.

Should an event or events beyond the control of the Contractor and its subcontractors drive a decrease to C-SAT for a period of time, FSA and the Contractor shall review and determine whether to suspend C-SAT requirements for a mutually agreed upon period.

Events triggering this provision include, but are not limited to policy changes, system outages, program anomalies etc.

5.3.9 Conference Support

The Contractor shall provide FSA with support for conference attendance on a fixed price per person, per request basis to include all travel costs. The services and deliverables provided for conference support are described in the Best and Final Offer Technical

Proposal.

5.3.10 Ancillary Services

The Contractor shall provide Ancillary Services pertinent to the processing of paper promissory notes for Direct Loans in support of the U.S. Department of Education, Federal

Direct Student Loan Program by providing the following services:

Receiving and sending mail via mailroom functions. The Contractor shall process promissory notes beginning with the receipt and opening of incoming mail. Promissory notes are received daily from the United States Postal Office

(USPS) and overnight delivery services. Each institution provides a manifest with the promissory notes attached. Mailroom support clerks shall receive the documents and verify that there is a corresponding manifest for each batch of promissory notes received. Each promissory note and manifest shall be date-stamped and a batch cover sheet created to record each manifest number contained in that batch.

Imaging paper promissory notes into the Image Repository. All single-year and multi-year promissory notes for Subsidized/Unsubsidized and PLUS awards, Credit Reports, Endorser Addenda, Powers of Attorney, Alternate Documents, and manifests, shall be scanned and stored in an imaging database for FSA.

Imaging eliminates the manual process of tracking hard-copy documents, by enabling all hard-copy documents to be changed into electronic images. An additional benefit of electronic images is that the images can be retrieved and printed remotely without human intervention.

Storing paper promissory notes. The Contractor shall use vault storage procedures that make certain that all documents are stored and protected according to standard storage and security procedures. The vault is a secured area;

access shall be available only on a limited basis to make certain that the sensitivity of the documents is maintained. After the promissory notes are scanned into the Imaging Database, they shall be permanently stored in the vault.

Maintaining the Image Repository through a Web hosting facility. The

Contractor shall maintain the Image Repository, including storage, backup, and archive of images. A Web gateway shall be setup and maintained to provide

Internet access to other Department agency users, such as Loan Servicing and

Debt Collection. This access eliminates the need to physically transfer images to other organizations. The Contractor shall be responsible for their Web hosting services, managed storage connectivity, and ongoing support.

Sending promissory note metadata to COD and reconciling data. An integral part of the paper promissory note processing is the reconciliation of the metadata sent to the COD system. The Contractor shall follow the process that is in place to reconcile metadata discrepancies on a daily basis to make certain that data in both systems is synchronized.

Providing Batch IDs for FRC Records. The Contractor shall take requests for promissory note fulfillment for documents not stored in the Vault and determine the Batch ID for each request. The Contractor is not responsible, under this PWS, to fulfill the promissory note request, beyond the determination of the Batch IDs, for records that are located at the Federal Records Center (FRC).

Providing print fulfillment and mailing services. The Contractor shall provide

Master Promissory Note print and mailing services. Daily files sent by COD shall be received by the Contractor’s print center. The print job shall be initiated and

MPNs printed, placed in envelopes, and mailed to the intended recipient.

Ancillary Services’ monthly KPIs and service levels shall include:

Area Service Level

Incoming Mail

Processing

Turnaround time for processing incoming mail and forwarding paper promissory notes after receipt to imaging to be indexed shall not exceed

24 hours, average measured monthly

Promissory Notes

Processing

Turnaround time for processing promissory notes after receipt from the mailroom shall not exceed two (2) business days, average measured

Area Service Level monthly

1. Processing and Networking Support

The Contractor shall provide the professional personnel needed to support the Direct

Loan paper promissory note processing and infrastructure maintenance. This support shall include all functions of the local area network (LAN), Telecom, and systems.

Business Office and Quality Assurance support is provided to the entire team.

2. Technical Maintenance Support

The Contractor shall provide the personnel needed for system maintenance and technical support of promissory note processing and reconciliation. Maintenance is a critical and difficult phase in the system lifecycle. It requires identifying and correcting problems in a system while keeping the system operational. To minimize the impact that changes will have on users, it is necessary to have technical staff who are experienced in all aspects of the system. This staff shall respond to day-to-day problems with the system and modifications to the system that are necessitated by changes made elsewhere in the Direct Loan delivery process, as well as provide corrective enhancements to accommodate business need changes to circumvent problems before they occur. The Contractor shall participate in the COD Daily

Production call and be prepared to assist and respond to issues affecting the delivery process of information.

3. Quality Assurance Support

The Contractor shall support FSA by reviewing all processes to make certain of adherence to standardized procedures. The Contractor shall monitor promissory note processing, warehouse fulfillment, overall vault management, and technical support activities regularly, and provide recommendations for improvements, where applicable.

The Contractor shall respond to requests from FSA for statistical data related to the services.

1. Expected Volumes

Each year, FSA shall provide the Contractor with expected volumes for Ancillary

Services. The Contractor shall provide its own Not-to-Exceed amounts in its proposal based on the expected volumes. For Year 1 of the Contract, the expected volumes shall be:

Document Type Base

Year

MPN Processing XXX

MPN Printing YYY

5.3.11 Cooperation with Multiple Agencies/Contractors

The Contractor shall work cooperatively within a multi-contract and interagency environment, comprising the Social Security Administration (SSA), Department of Justice

(DOJ), Selective Service System (SSS), Veterans Administration (VA), Department of

Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Defense (DOD), and Internal Revenue Service

(IRS). The Contractor shall interface with and assist the business units of other agencies to meet FSA’s goals by contacting each agency and communicating the requirement changes for the new cycle. The Contractor shall initiate the transmission testing with the new files and new parameters provided for testing.

The Contractor shall support the interfaces between the business functions supported by the

Contractor and other functions within the Federal Student Aid enterprise. The Contractor shall also act in a support role for requirements, analysis, and planning efforts in support of

FSA’s information framework initiative, data strategy, and other enterprise system integration/improvement efforts. In addition, the Contractor shall work with other business units at FSA, including Direct Loan and Federal Pell Grants, to cooperatively discuss data access improvements.

5.3.12…